Cable winding machine



Jan. 14, 1941.

R. R. DO'WNIE 2,228,346

CABLE WINDING MACHINE Filed April 24, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lily. 5.

INVENTOR Roberf Rex Down/e 1, 44x24. flm m.

Jan. 14, 1941. R WNIE 2,228,346

CABLE WINDING MACHINE Filed April 24, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 P] r I r-a ML L- -I L 1 J ig Q33 3a -35 34 F D 29 *0 J3 INVENTOR Rob er? Rex Down i6 Patented Jan. 1 4, 1941 l I,

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,228,346 CABLE WINDING MACHINE Robert Rex Downie, Beaver Falls, Pa.

Application April 24, 1937, Serial No. 138,797

4 Claims. ((1254- 190) This invention relates to means for smooth and. Figure illustrates in a diag atic manner even winding of a cable on a winding drum, and a method of determining the curvature of a in the particular embodiment illustrated in the shaft on which a floating sheave is to e drawings to the winding up and unwinding of mounted;

5 operating cables of a well drilling machine. Referring more p r y t the panye However,.the invention may be applied to the ing drawings which illustrate my invention as winding and unwinding of other cables regardpp ed to a Well dr lling machine, themachine 'less of the general direction of the pull of the is mounted on a truck 2 for easy transportation. cable. Examples of other such cables are the A drilling tool is secured-to the end of a drilling o calf or casin line of well drills, car haulage lines, l ne or c le 4 wh p s v a cr wn sheave and elevator-ropes. v 5 supported by a mast or derrick B which is se- My invention provides means forlso leading the cured at its lower end to the truck. The drillin cable'to the drum that as the latter revolves in cable then p s under a front spllddlhg ea e the inwinding direction, the cable is fed to the I and around a floating or later y shiftable rear.

winding point of the drum without substantial sh ave 8 nd is connected a its end to a winding 15 lateral draft either toward the side of the predrum 9 for the drillin lineceding wraps or in the advance direction. A bailer II is secured to one end of a bailer or Objects'of the invention are to cause the cable sand e l2 w h passes v a sh v 13 also to wrap and lie in smooth and compact urse mounted on the mast 6. The cable I2 then passes without voids, to reverse or t rn back readily around a floating sheave l4 and is connected at 20 without piling up at the ends of the course, and its lower e d to a Winding drum 5 for t e sand without leading away or cutting across the i edrum in the first few wraps of the course. The winding drum 9 is driven by m s of a Further objects are to avoid the lateral abrachain 16 pass around a sprocket l 0n t e?- sion and bruising of the cable which result from W ndi g d um 9 and around a'sprocket l8 on a 25 excessively tight packing; to avoid the ki ki countershaft 19. The winding drum [5 is also and pinching which occur in a given course if the driven from the countershaft l9, which in turn preceding or underlying course contains voids s connected by a Chain 0 to an engine A or humps; to secure the maximum possible spoo1- chain 22 connected to the countershaft l9 and ing capacity on a drum of given barrel and flange to a spro k 3 n a shaft unmoves Walklng 30 I diameters and given length; to secure well balbeam 25 through connecting rods 26 and crank anced or concentric loading of the drum so that arms 21. The sheaves, I, 8 and H e pp t at high speeds in paying out, the vibration and on the walking beam. Th Winding drum. 5 is jumping tendency of the drum and the machine driven from the countershaft l9 by a chain 28 carrying it are kept to a minimum, thus in effect passing around a" sprocket Wheel 29 On he u 35 4 checking of the payout which results from a lengt pen n p e d p t which the permitting substantially higher payout speeds and a sprocket wheel on the countershaft.

than are feasible with the eccentric loading which The drillin e 4 and t e sa d line l2 are invariably occurs with bad spooling; and what is n y of p xim ely he same length and v ery important, to prevent the sharp momentary range from 200 01' 300130 4000 O1 5000 feet in cable so spooled as to be bound or seized at some machine is designed to drill- The crown sheave p i t init51ength F 5 rotates in a vertical plane, is fixed against In the accompanying drawings which illustrate lateral movement relative 110 the machine a d a preferred embodiment of the invention: t0 earth, d the Well s drilled P b beneath 4 Figure 1 is a side elevation of a well drilling the front vertical tangent of the crown sheave.

machine having two cable leads in accordance Practical considerations of variation of torque with the present invention, parts being broken' required for winding up and brake torque for away; 7 holding and lowering tend to limit the outside or Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken substanfull diameters of the winding drums 9 and I5 to tially on the broken line 11-11 of Figure l; the extent that, particularly on machines for 50 IVIV of Figure 3'; and

Figure 3 is a horizontal section through the drflli'ng to greater depths, the drums must have axis of a floating sheave mounted on a curved such substantial width to accommodate the line axle; that the line has a heavy side draft when ap- Figure 4 is a vertical section taken on the line preaching and returning from the sides of the drum. 7 This results from the well known prin- 55 to run off one or both wheels.

hard material to so mounting the front spudding sheave 1 as to permit it to float into the line or plane of pull of the cable in its extent from the crown pulley to the drum. Such lateral freedom of the spudding sheave, desirable for spooling when hoisting tools, permits sharp axial movements (side slap) during the spudding or drilling operation. Under conditions requiring the fixing of position of the front spudding sheave l on its axle, the length of line in recurrent misalinement with the drum is decreased, and hence the angle of misalinement increased and the dimculty of spooling aggravated. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the front spudding sheave l is fixed, that is, it is not free to float on its axle, whereas the sheaves 8 and I4 are free to float on their axles. However, undercertain conditions, the sp-udding sheave i may also be arranged to float or shift laterally on its axis.

Also, it will be understood that with the trend toward shorter-and generally more compact machines for transportation by truck without dismantling the machines, the effective length of lead is further shortened.

The present invention obviates the difiiculties in winding and unwinding cable previously referred to by maintaining a substantially constant length of cable between the tangent points of the winding drum and the crown sheave. In the specific embodiment shown for purposes of illustration, this is done by curving the axles of one or more intervening sheaves which float or shift transversely on their axles and contact the cable at a point or points'intermediate the winding drum and the fixed sheave. The curvature of the axle and the plane in which the curved axle is located bear such reference to the angle formed by the reaches of therca-ble as it passes around the floating sheave that as the sheave reaches the midpoint of its path of travel laterally of the drum, the length of line between the fixed sheave and the drum is sufficiently increased to offset the shortening of the reaches which would otherwise occur on straight axles due to the approach to alinement. Of course, the axle may be consid- V ered as having its true spacing at the midwidth of the machine, the ends of the axle being curved in such direction as to tend to relieve or shorten the reaches of the cable as the sheave travels outwardly from the midwidth of the axle, thus compensating for the tendency, of the misalinement to lengthen them.

In the embodiment shown,.the sand line sheave M is mounted on an axle 30 so as to have lateral shifting or floating movement under tension of. the cable l2 as the cable winds across the face of the drum I5. The axle 30 is curved, except for its ends 3| which are straight. The axle is non-rotatable, being mounted at its ends in brackets 32 and prevented from rotation by means of set screws 33. A collar 34 secured to the axle by a pin 35 is located at each end of the curved portion of the axle so as to limit the path of travel of the floating sheave.

The axle 36 on which thefloating sheave 8 rotates and moves transversely 'of the axis is also non-rotatable and is curved and mounted in a manner similar to the axle 30.

The appropriate curvature of the axles is quite perceptible and for sheaves having long hubs, it is preferable to slightly increase the diameter of bore at the center, retaining the normal running fit at the ends of the bore. Thus, in Figure 3 the bore 31 of the hub 38 of sheave I4 is of greater diameter at its midpoint 39 than at its ends 40. The axle 30 makes a running flt with the hub at its ends, but intermediate its ends there is a space between the axle and bore. Since the working load on the sheave is always directed substantially against the back ll of the curve, full length contact of the sheave hub is secured, and the normal fit at the ends prevents lateral rocking or chatter. Chatter, of course, is of greater importance at the higher speeds of running-in than in hoisting.

The curve of the axle 30 is preferably in the plane which bisects the angle formed by the reaches of the sand line l2 at median position as it passes around the sheave H. The curvature of the axle is such that the ends of its curved portion are nearer the fixed sheave l3 than the cen- 1 tral portion of the curved axle.

A satisfactory method for determining the curvature required in the axle 30 is as follows. First, determine the total taut line length from the laterally fixed sheave l3 representing the one end of the lead, to the midwidth of the drum [5 at mean winding diameter, the intervening sheave axle 30 being assumed to be straight. This length is represented in Figure 5 bythe reference numeral 42. Second, determine the total taut line length from the laterally fixed sheave I3 to the edge of the drum IS, the final reach of the line being perpendicular to the axis of the drum and parallel to the plane of the drum flange. This is represented in Figure 5 by the reference numeral 43. The difference between the lengths of the lines 43 and 42 represents the amount of increase of line length required at the median or normal point 44 of the lead. Third,

determine the radius of curvature required in an axle to produce a chord height suflicient to take up the line length released from the lead as the line is wound upon the drum from the end of it to the plane of the fixed sheave. It will be understood that the takeup in the line may be distributed over two or more axles instead of over only a single axle if desired, also, as shown in the drawings, that the curved portion of the axle must be extended-at each end, beyond the length of chord used in determining the radius of curve, a sufllcient distance to permit the lower tangent point of the pilot sheave to travel nearly 7 sion to permit smooth spooling, for the diflerences in lengths of the cable between the fixed sheave and the winding drum as the cable winds across the drum face.

Although I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, .it is to be understood that the invention may be otherwise embodied or practiced within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a curved shaft, a sheave ro tatable on and movable along the curved shaft, the sheave having a hub provided with a bore, the diameter of the bore adjacent its mid portion being greater than adjacent its ends.

2. In combination, a curved shaft, a sheave rotatable on and movable along the curved shaft, the sheave having a hub provided with a bore, the diameter of the bore adjacent its mid portion being greater than adjacent its ends, thediameter of the bore adjacent it's ends being such that the hub adjacent its ends makes a running fit with the curved shaft.

3. ,In' combination, a curved shaft, a sheave rotatable on and movable along the curved shaft, the sheave having a hub provided with a bore, the diameter of the bore adjacent its mid portion being greater, than adjacent its ends. the diameter of the bore adjacent its ends being such that the hub adjacent its ends makes a running fit with the curved shaft, the curvature of the wall of the bore being substantially the same as the curvatureof the curved shaft.

4. In a cable-winding machine the combination of a motor, a winding drum driven by the motor, a sheave of which the axis and plane of rotation are substantially stationary with reference to the drum, a cable secured to the drum and engaging the sheave, another sheave so located as to engage the cable at a point intermediate the drum and stationary sheave, said other sheave being mounted to travel laterally along a curved bar under tension of the cable as the latter winds across the drum face, the curvature of said bar being such that the total length of cable between the drum and stationary sheave remains substantially constant as the cable winds across the drum face, said other sheave having a hub provided with a bore, the diameter of the bore adjacent its mid-portion being greater than adjacent its ends.

. ROBERT REX DOWNIE. 

